Without a second thought I chose Madrid over Barcelona for one simple fact: the Prado museum, which contains two of the best paintings I've ever seen. Experiencing Las Meninas , the best of Velazquez's paintings and, according to many critics, the best painting ever made, did not disappoint. Unlike the Mona Lisa , flocked by tourists and shielded by panes of glass (upon my viewing at least), Meninas is right out in the open, stripped, raw, enormous, and ready to be properly appreciated. The highlight of the museum, however, is the collection of works by Hieronymous Bosch, the pre-Renaissance genius who created Surrealist dreamscapes through the lens of Christian apocolypse. The Garden of Earthly Delights --an enormous tryptich painted on both sides, something unknown to most art history students (myself included)--is the most vast, erudite, and mesmerizing attempt to psychologize the Christian tropes of good, evil, and redemption. Bosch takes imaginative leaps into territory that would remain unexplored for 500 years. Not until Surrealism, with Freud, Dali, and Disney at the helm, did artists and thinkers re-investigate and push this aesthetic into the modern age, where Bosch seems to have belonged.

Go to Madrid! Shop the best in European fashions along the Cerrano, have afternoon cafe at the Ritz (located close to the Prado), and roam the expansive, pristine streets--among the cleanest in Europe--without fear of being robbed, as is not the case in Milan or Paris. Madrid is old-school Europe at its finest--art, food, fashion, and nightlife, served on a palette of history spanning 14 centuries. Oh, in the midst of your trip, don't forget to drop your postcards off to the local post office! This spired, majestically-lit palace--there is no other word for it--is laughably spectacular. Only in Europe! 5 STARS

One of the great museums. The Goya paintings are amazing. One can readily identify with the man, his arms outstreaching in an uncomprehending plea, as the guns are pointed at him, about to execute him. Really amazing. And then the Garden of Earthly delights, such a different painting obviously, with so much going on, it can take quite alog time to sort through all the different figures and scenes. The deposition of Christ by Roger van der Weyden and his teacher Robert Campin is incredible as well, simple, narrow, but so moving. Many delights await at the Prado!

The Museo del Prado is one of the oldest and most famous galleries and a very well known place in Madrid. The museum features one of the world's finest collections of European art, from the 12th century to the early 19th century . The large numbers of works by Velázquez, Goya, Titian , Rubens and Bosch are among the highlights of the collection. The Prado has also numerous works from the Hellenistic period and the collection of Roman portraits is extensive.

With about 1,300 paintings on display, more than 900 sculptures and fragments and a collection of around 3000 drawings representative of various schools and dating from the 15th to the 19th centuries featuring some of the most renowned artists (Velázquez, Rubens, Goya, Boticelli, Bruegel, Dürer,...) this place is simply breathtaking. We spent an entire day in it which is not nearly enough. Besides if you are still not sure with a student ID card entrance is free:)

Worth it. They have free hours every week, 5-8 on Sundays and 6-8 on weekdays, and they're now staying permanently open all seven days of the week (used to be closed on Mondays). It's totally worth several trips. Even if you're only in Madrid for a short time, take advantage of the free times, and see some of the main attractions. Personally, I think Goya's black paintings are the best, but to each his own.